The whitening system and unique delivery technique was specially developed by Dr Michael Chan founder of Iconic Dentistry featuring a whitening solution by Pola White.

My Previous Bad Experience:

So I had my teeth done about 6 years ago, by another dentist. I found that dentist through a Google search and they seemed to be highly rated and have good reviews. The whitening system they used was called Zoom. It gave good results, but… OMG I HAD SO MUCH PAIN, I COULDN’T HANDLE IT. I paid $900 for 1 appointment in the chair, with 3 lightening sessions. But I couldn’t sit through the whole 3 sessions. I had to ask her to stop because I was shaking with pain in my teeth, bones, jaw, skull, head – I honestly rated it as bad as childbirth.

I was so traumatised by the whole experience that I found it a bit hard to talk about it without feeling anxious and a bit ill. Thus I decided not to share on my blog, because I honestly would not recommend it to anyone!

After 6 Years:

I was NOT keen to get my teeth whitened again.

But because I drink lots of tea, coffee and eat lots of curry… my teeth were quite yellow, and I had a bit of yellow staining in the crevices. It wasn’t THAT noticeable. I just tried not to wear white so much, because it enhanced the yellowness of my teeth.

So part of me really wanted to get my teeth whitened.

Why I Chose To Go To a Dentist:

I wanted an expert to look after my teeth, not someone who did a training course.

I wanted someone who would be mindful of the long term health of my teeth, had vast experience with teeth and able to spot any possible underlying problems I had.

The dentist would check out my teeth to see if I had any decay, enamel problems, gum issues, or fillings that might react to the whitening solutions.

And being in a dentist’s chair meant I have access to full dentist services like x-rays, teeth cleaning tools, spit basins, comfortable chair and more — basically I wanted to be as comfortable as possible.

Why I Chose Iconic Dentistry

I do a bit of social media work with Dr Chan for his Iconic Medispa and he told me about his unique technique for delivering the whitening treatment that significantly increases its effectiveness.

He also told me how it was VERY RARE for his patients to complain about pain, and certainly not at the level of pain I experienced.

I asked a few other people who had tried the whitening service with Dr Michael… and everyone was super happy about it all and no one mentioned any pain.

So I decided to give it a go with him.

The Process

1st Appointment for a check up + moulds

He checked out my teeth. Took x-rays. And he gave me a good clean – oops!

I had a few problems with my teeth (receding gums), an old filling, but they would not hinder the whitening treatment. My teeth were excellent candidates for teeth whitening.

He took hi-res photographs. He prepared my mouth and made moulds of my teeth.

2nd Appointment (two weeks later)

I was nervous. I was expecting it to be very painful.

My mouth was prepped and whitening solution put on.

Saliva neutralises the whitening solution, so there was a lot of care to eliminate contact with saliva. I was given a soft, hi-tech, saliva sucking thing that rested inside my mouth (another good thing about going to a dentist) so I didn’t have to swallow/choke on my saliva. It was all very comfortable.

I was given sunglasses, BOSE headphones (so luxe!), put under a LED lamp – the same lamp used in medispa facials.

I sat through 3 light sessions, and Dr Michael gave me a 4th session, because my teeth responded really well and I wasn’t feeling any discomfort.

DID I FEEL ANY PAIN??

In the end, I had 2 tiny twinges of discomfort (which lasted about 1 second). I wouldn’t even call it “pain”. It was more like a small, surprising sensitivity in a single tooth, and it felt like absolutely nothing compared to my last whitening treatment.

After the treatment, my teeth had a tingling sensation for a few hours.

The Results

He took photos of my teeth immediately after the treatment.

I was blown away by the before and after photos.

So fresh, so natural and so beautifully done!

The results were not fake or blinding white. I was sooooooo happy.

I was given perfectly made teeth trays and a take home kit for at-home whitening — the teeth trays need to be a perfect fit to make sure my saliva doesn’t mix with the whitening gel.

I need to use the trays at home, for 3 days after the in-chair whitening. But I don’t need to do any “top ups” for around 6 months. These are all included in the total price.

I came home and my husband, who isn’t a big fan of cosmetic or beauty treatments, was also blown away by the results too, saying my teeth looked really nice and natural.

And now he is booked in for the same whitening treatment!

I was so impressed by the professionalism, the step by step explanations, the details to patient care and comfort, the careful delivery technique, the everything.

Unlike my first experience, this time, I have been telling EVERYONE I know about my teeth!

And just in case you’re wondering, I do a little bit of freelance design work for Iconic Medispa and in exchange, my whitening treatment was a complimentary service. However, because of my first bad experience, I was a bit skeptical about the treatment (haha sorry Michael!), and I didn’t make any undertaking to do this write up, in case err… it didn’t go well.

But hey, the experience and the results were amazing… and I’m so proud I get to work with super-duper highly-skilled experts who truly care about their service, their product and go the extra mile to ensure an excellent result!

Before: Eeek I’m a bit embarrassed to share this haha! But hey this is real life for me.

These are my 4 week old shellac nails. I’m impressed the shellac even lasted 4 weeks. Usually they peel/lift off after 2 weeks, but they were starting to crack and one had lifted off the day before. My nails are so brittle and damaged from the shellac process, I really hate the cycle I’m stuck in, but I keep doing it because at least it gives me nice nails for 2 weeks.

I’ve never been to a high-end nail salon before. I’ve only ever been to cheap and cheerful shopping centre nail shops, where the ladies don’t speak any English.

After: And this is me, after having Hard Gel Nails done at Glamour Nail Bar. I looooove them!

The results and whole experience was frankly AMAZING!

The nail technicians from Glamour Nail Bar are true professionals. They really care for your nail and shape each nail to utter perfection. They don’t just slap on the polish, throw you under the lamp and kick you out after your 30 minute time slot. Yes it’s a bit more expensive, but like everything in life, you get what you pay for.

They share expert advice, nail care, nail tips and explanations about nails treatments and process. I was even able to ask tricky questions and I learned so much about nail stuff. I’ve never had that before!

This nail service was kindly gifted to me in exchange for some social media posts, I wasn’t required to write a blog post about the process, but I got so many direct messages about it, I thought I’d share what I’ve learned.

I posted about it on Instagram stories – but I received so many questions about it, that I decided to pop the info up here on my blog.

Lash lifts have been around for ages. I was told by my beautician friend that they were really popular about 10 years ago. But then false lashes and eyelash extensions became all the rage… now lifts/perms are becoming popular again.

​This picture is me, one day after having the lash lift. My skin looks amazing here, but it’s just a filter haha!

I’m wearing a bit of foundation, brow pencil and a swipe of mascara.

It’s a “natural + everyday” look rather than a “glam” look. It looks like I have eyeliner one, but I don’t.

What is it?

A lash lift (or lash perm) is a perm for your eyelashes, to keep them permanently curled and perfectly lifted up!

How long does it last?

Usually 2 – 3 months. But depends on your lashes and how fast they grow.

How long is the lash lift process?

All done in about 30-40 minutes. (Probably less, but I like to chat…)

How are they?

Omg they are amazing! They are zero maintenance! You just wake up every morning with perfectly perky lashes that brighten your eyes!

You can swim, sweat, cry. You can load them up with mascara. You can even get extensions put on them for a special occassion.

How do they compare to lash extensions?

I love getting lash extensions, but they are expensive ($120 for a “natural” set), they don’t last very long (3 weeks tops), they take 1-1.5 hours to put them on, and my eyes get quite red for a few days from the glue.

Plus, you have to avoid getting extensions wet, you shouldn’t sleep on your face/eyes, you shouldn’t rub them, wash them too hard – all this stuff you have to remember to look after them and make them last longer.

A lash lift is so much easier to look after. That is, there’s nothing to do! You just treat them like your normal lashes.

While it doesn’t look as dramatic, I think it gives you lovely everyday lashes, with a bit of oomph.

What do I do with them everyday?

I still wear mascara everyday. And I use an eyelash serum called Li Lash.

How much?

I’ve seen the procedure priced at $55, $69, $99 and $130 around Perth.

But I go to my girlfriend Bonnie (@bonnie_beauty_space), who has a home beauty salon in Kewdale (near Belmont Forum), who charges $30.

If you’re keen to give it a go, drop her a message on Instagram, she’d love a few new clients!

Here’s a before after photo.

Left – About 1 hour before the lash lift.

Right – 1 day after the lash lift with a swipe of mascara.

Now (4 weeks later) – They still curl up nicely and they are still thick and perky.

Yup I’m definitely a convert. They are soooo low maintenance, so easy to look after, such a great effect, lasts so long, not so expensive… it’s brilliant!

My hair stylist said they were going to give me a semi-balayage with some spread-out highlights, with a bit of medium brown colour for my roots, and an intense ash toner to keep it a warm brown, not a bright orange.

The whole process took about 3 hours in the chair.

The result was gorgeous! I’m so happy with it!

I love that there are light bits and dark bits, and it’s all scattered around and a bit uneven.

I was told that I have to come in again in 3-4 weeks to get more ash-coloured toner (colour) put in, or the colour will fade and my hair will look orangey. I’ll probably do a hair oil treatment, or keratin treatment to keep my hair soft, shiny and smooth too.

I struggle with oily eyelids (it’s real ok?). Meaning if I wear eyeliner, it transfers to my upper eye lid within a few hours. I have to constantly wipe my upper eye lids with my fingers (which smudges into a smoky look by the end of the day) or constantly dust powder on my eyelids every few hours.

My sister has used this BB Cream for years and I finally gave it a go. It is brilliant! Such beautiful texture and cover-up. It’s a little exxy, but it just feels amazing and the colour blends so nicely into my skin. Hands down the best BB Cream I’ve tried to date.

I guess you could say it’s a kind of lightweight foundation, with sheer to medium coverage (covers redness), with SPF 30+ and super moisturising.

Sometimes I wear it on its own, sometimes I use it as a base.

My shade is: Natural

I’ve placed an order for a couple of other Best Seller products and can’t wait to share!

(Btw, my links use an affiliate link, so if you do buy, I do get a little commission. However, if you’re a first time Bobbi brown buyer, don’t buy online, you should probably buy from in a real store first, so you can test out the products.)

For me, blemishes, redness and pigmentation were easy to cover up with makeup. So I wanted to target my acne scars, large pores and skin texture – but my overall results were soooo much better than I expected.

I never thought I’d be one to put such close up photos of my face on my blog, but there you go.

A few people have asked about which self-tanning products I use – so with Spring just around the corner, I’m running through a few brands and products I’ve tried, liked and disliked.

Pictured here are some random bottles I happen to have in my cupboard. Three of them are months old and their solutions have turned green, so I threw them away after I took this photo – oops!

This isn’t a sponsored post.

In the past, I’ve declined to accept tanning sponsors, because… well, the products are either great or crap. I don’t see the point of dancing around the truth and recommending something I don’t like. Plus, what works for me, might not work for someone else.

Side note: I find it so hard these days to find good, honest, balanced product review from bloggers!!

OK whatever, let’s get started.

As much as I LOOOOVE my natural skin colour, which is a fair olive tone, I am rather addicted to self-tanning.

When my skin is a deep, warm, honey brown colour, it makes me feel healthy, lively, full of radiance and glow.

Yet, I’d be rubbing tanning mousse into my legs and I think OMG this is totally stupid, fake and so unnatural haha!

But if I spend 4-5 hours in the sun, my skin would be exactly the same darker shade?! So IT IS natural!?

At least with a bottled tan, the glowing brown colour is evenly spread out across my body AND there’s a significantly reduced risk of developing skin cancer, sun spots and ageing skin.

I’ve never paid for a spray tan (where someone else does it for me) – I’m sure I’ll get around to it one day – I just like to buy stuff to use myself.

I’m pretty flexible (thanks to yoga) so I can reach my back just fine.

I’ve been using different brands/mousse/sprays/oils for about 6 years now, here’s a quick rundown on what I think:

Bondi Sands Mousse – Used to buy this often, loved the end colour. But it stains my clothes/sheets DAYS after, very annoying, strong smell, feels sticky.

Le Tan Mousse – Patchy (maybe from my poor application), comes off in patches/flakes and shows creases in my skin after a few days. Don’t like it.

Le Tan Instant Spray Tan – This used to be awesome, so quick and easy, lovely colour, fast drying, but maybe they changed the formula because the last bottle made my skin greenish brown and so I never bought it again.

Rimmel Mousse – Develops in 1 hour, perfect for last minute tans, great colour, so cheap, I always have a bottle handy, absolutely zero staining on white dresses/tops which is a bit disconcerting!?

JBronze Mousse – Absolutely love this one, no staining, no strong smell, have bought it 4 times in a row now. (Notice the multiple bottles in the photo!) I also love the face tanning one.

Loving Tan – never tried this, but very keen after reading lots of really good reviews.

I also like Dove Summer Glow – Gradual Self Tan, more like a body moisturiser to help my tan last longer. makes my skin feel a bit sticky though. Nice smell, doesn’t stain.

I usually buy the darkest shade in any brand, which looks best with my skin colour. Medium and light hardly make a colour change on my skin.

Lastly, here’s a tip. Watch out for products on sale/clearance. I suspect the products/solutions are a bit old, and therefore not as effective. Every time I’ve bought a product on a clearance sale, I noticed it didn’t work as well, or looked a bit different??

By the way, no one paid me to write this review, however my links to products are through an affiliate, so I do get a 3-5% commission if you buy something! Just don’t buy the crappy ones haha!

6 months ago, I went to Curi Hair Korean Hair Salon to have a Korean Digital Perm for Medium Hair – I wanted big, loose waves and straight ends.

I know I can create that look myself with my hair curler. But it takes me FOREVER to do it, because I have such thick hair.

I wanted permanent, everyday curls! I’m so lazy!

I took in these photos of blogger extraordinaire Nicole Warne and Aimee Song to show my hair stylist.

I wasn’t expecting the EXACT same style, as their hair styles were probably hand-styled for 3 hours to utter perfection. I just wanted something that looked similar.

I didn’t want any colour either, as I had some balayage lightening leftover from ages ago.

The digital perm took about 3 hours – although I had to go to the toilet twice because of all the tea I was sipping.

I was suuuuper pleased with the results!

They did such a fantastic job.

I took these photos in my car after having the perm done. I loved it!!!

So as I mentioned earlier, I had this perm done in October.

I wanted to wait 6 months before doing this review, because I wanted to share what a perm was like after a long time.

Yes you can step out of a salon looking amazing, but how is it on a day-to-day basis? How is it after 6 months? Do the curls fall out? Does it still look great? Is it high maintenance? Is it frizzy af? Is it really worth it?

A Week After the Perm

I was surprised by how dry and frizzy my hair felt. It was a bit of a shock to me. I needed to put 3-4 pumps of oil and rub it into the ends of my hair to make it look good.

Blow-drying my hair took practice. I blow-dried my hair in a random/haphazard way until it was 85% dry. Then I had to twirl locks of hair with my finger and lift it up to give the curls a nice shape and a smooth texture.

The perm was pretty tricky to manage at first. It was annoying. It was high maintenance. I was quite exasperated by all the blow-drying sometimes. My hair was like a pet haha. I had to look after it. I had to get to know it.

Experiment to find out what works. I had to experiment for a few weeks. Use more product. Use less product. More twirling. Less twirling. Blow-dry in the morning. Blow-dry at night. Hair in a pony tail. Hair left out. Use more conditioner. Use less conditioner.

But after a while, I got used to it and it’s pretty easy now!

6 Months After the Perm

Photo (Left): This is me with towel dried hair, left to air dry. With a bit of hair oil.

Photo (Right): This is me after blow drying my hair and twirling. Took me 10 minutes. This is how my hair looks most of the time.

I often do a beachy look, (which is really just my lazy hair look) where I just blow-dry my hair quickly and haphazardly. Then I just use some mousse, salt spray or hair wax to get rid of the frizz and help keep the curls in shape.

I still have to use about 3 pumps of hair oil. My hair is still dry and can get frizzy on humid days.

After 6 months, the curls have not fallen out.

My hair is still really curly! It just depends on how I blow-dry my hair.

These photos are of my hair after a more careful blow-dry to create bigger, softer curls. Again this took me about 10 minutes. I used a wet-look wax on the ends.

This is me after a very, very gentle blow-dry. The curls are much longer, smoother and sleeker. This look takes me 20 minutes to do – which I consider to be “forever” – and I hardly ever do this because I’m lazy haha. But it looks really good!

Conclusion

Having a digital perm is NOT EASIER or LESS MAINTENANCE than everyday hair. It’s a different kind of maintenance.

If you’re looking for a hairstyle that is super low maintenance, then this is probably not for you.

For me, I absolutely love it!! I like the fact that I can blow-dry my hair for 10 minutes and have lovely, everyday curls. It’s a bit messy, it’s a bit boofy, it doesn’t have to look perfect.

Everyday I channel the “messy hair, don’t care” vibe haha. I like it.

Blow-drying is much easier than using a hot curling wand. So for me, that’s a WIN.

It’s been 6 months and I think it has been totally worth it!

* By the way, this is the second time I’ve had a digital perm. The last time, I had really long hair and I wanted very tight curls. You can read my blog post about it here.

Some of you might remember my blog post about My 30’s Skin Journey, where I whinged about my skin and I talked about seeing a dermatologist, my skin treatment, using (and loving) Vitamin A and how I decided NOT to do laser.

Instead I went for lots of facials (Detox facials! Rejuvenation facials! Relaxing facials!) which are nice, relaxing, and wonderfully luxurious. But in terms of making an actual difference to my skin, most of them were meh.

So now I have been trying more “active”, but non-invasive facial treatments.

My disclosure here is that I was contacted by a friend of a friend of a friend, who also happened to be a high school friend’s sister’s husband — basically I kind of know the team behind the Iconic Medispa in South Perth and they asked if I’d like to try one of their facial therapies.

I actually declined at first, because I didn’t know very much about the therapies they offered. On their website, they say they offer Hydrafacials, Collagen Induction Therapy (which is like skin needling), a range of chemical peels, facials, infusion masks and even wrinkle relaxers and dermal fillers.

Since I declined to write a blog post, I offered to take photos for some of their marketing social media instead.

So one day I went into their clinic to take photos, I started chatting and asking questions about their business and their therapies. They were all very professional, knowledgeable and passionate about what they do, and I got a really nice vibe from them, their practice and their ethos… and the more informed I was, the more I wanted to try a facial treatment.

Basically, I got to know Dr Michael and a few of his therapists.

He’s is an award winning dentist! He’s super humble, he’s got two daughters, he’s into photography, does triathlons, he’s a cyclist, he’s down to earth, he’s into further education and training/computer aided designs/new technologies that deliver real results (I liked this!), he confessed that he never really advertised his business because he just wanted to focus on doing great work and relied on word of mouth which inadvertently made his business thrive. He’s an all-rounder nice guy and he’s a bit of a geek :)

(And he’s not at all like the big talking cosmetic specialists – who I have met in the past, who talk fast and rushed like I’m taking up their time, and who talk down to me like I’m inferior.)

In the next part of this post, yes I do have close up before and after photos, I explain what CIT is, what happened during the treatment… and how I absolutely loved the results.

I actually had the treatment done 8 weeks ago and I am sooooo happy with the results, so I decided to write this blog review after all.

They didn’t pay me to write any of this, however they did provide the treatment as an exchange for some photography, marketing and graphic design work I did for them, months ago… which I was actually keen to do in order to extend my commercial photographic portfolio. So hey you can decide for yourself if I’m being a sell out or a freebie seeking blogger ha!

But in Karen-speak: Basically Collagen Induction Therapy uses a skin-needling or micro-needling technique (which has been around for hundreds of years). The latest technology in this field is called “Dermastamp” where medical-grade, fine needles are pricked into the surface of your skin to promote your own skin’s boost of collagen growth and to stimulate skin rejuvenation.

Because of this natural boost of collagen, your skin becomes firmer, smoother, tighter, improves in texture and reduces the sizes of pores, fine lines, wrinkles and scars. The boosting effect of collagen growth and skin improvement lasts for about 6-12 months.

Er, it all sounded too good to be true!?

I was happy to do it because: It’s said to be just as effective as laser, it’s good for getting rid of acne scars, it’s very low risk, almost no pain, almost no negative side effects, it’s “natural” because it boosts your own collagen growth, perfect for Asian skin and perfect for people with hyper-pigmentation (like me!).

Dr Michael checked out my skin, and for my acne scarring he recommended I have 2 rounds of skin cleansing facial treatments first (as my pores were really clogged and I needed to improve my skin health) then have a total of 5 CIT treatments, alternated with the facial cleansing treatments.

These skin cleansing treatments were called HydraFacials and they were fantastic!

Basically a HydraFacial is a facial, but heaps better. They do a light scrub to exfoliate your face, they give you a gentle peel, then they use a special pen that extracts and cleans your pores, while infusing your skin with antioxidants, peptides and hyaluronic acid.

It’s soooo much better and more effective than a regular facial.

It did wonders for my pores!

It’s a great way to prep your skin before a more active skin treatment like CIT.

(And after doing a bit of research about it, I found out that heaps of celebrities and personalities do it but they don’t publicly announce it ha!)

My CIT Experience

First of all, Iconic Medispa runs in conjunction with their Iconic Dentist clinic. So all their medical and hygiene standards and procedures have to comply with strict Australian dentistry standards.

This is not a typical beauty salon, not a home salon, not a small beauty business renting a shop space in the city with 10 year old equipment. This is a professional and successful clinic that has been running for 14 years, using advanced, medical grade equipment and the latest technology from the US/Europe.

As I sat in the chair while they made mirco-punctures in my face, I realised that CIT felt less like a “beauty therapy” and more of a “medical therapy”, thus I came to appreciate their high hygiene, procedural and equipment standards!

The treatment took about 60 minutes.

(This is the Dermastamp Pen, used for collagen induction therapy. I took that photo! Do you like it? It was being used on someone else, not me.)

Was it painful?

Nope. They applied numbing anaesthetic cream. When the Dermastamp Pen was pressed into my skin, it felt like an electric toothbrush, with light bristles, brushing over my skin.

What happened immediately after?

I was told that everyone’s skin reacts differently. Some people look a bit red after the treatment, like they had a touch of sunburn. While others become very red and inflamed for a few days.

For me, I looked awful. I looked like I was stung by bees. My face was inflamed, puffy, angry, red, really blotchy and there were places where my skin was broken and I could see tiny bloody dots. I was a bit shocked.

Maybe I’m being a bit over the top, and maybe on the scale of possible reactions to the treatment, I wasn’t actually that bad. But for me, my skin had never looked THAT bad!

I had to pick up my son from school later, so I swept mineral makeup over my face, even though they told me not to. But there was no way I was going out in public looking like that.

I was pretty upset that night. I was thinking OMFG WHAT THE @#$% DID I DO? HOW DID I GET TALKED INTO THIS?!?!

The next day?

Woke up the next morning. My face wasn’t as inflamed as the first day, but it was still red, blotchy and beginning to get scabby. I wore more mineral make up and I was happy to leave the house.

These photos were taken by the team at Iconic Medispa, as part of their overall service. The photos are looked over by several clinicians to keep track of my progress and my treatment is tweaked here and there as necessary.

I was very reluctant to take photos in the clinic (and wasn’t planning to share them on my blog!), but now that I’ve seen them and compared them, I’m a bit gobsmacked by how compelling they are.

Conclusion

It’s not a miraculous change.

But it has made a huge difference to my fine lines, pores, texture, firmness, smoothness and the overall look of my skin – just after 1 treatment.

My makeup sits and looks better on my face too.

It’s 8 weeks after the treatment and my skin is still GLOWING. It has a lovely radiance and perkiness to it, which is a bit hard to capture in a photo. I love that it’s a “natural glow” from my own collagen.

My pigmentation is still there, my pores are still on the large size (but that’s my skin type), but as I said – it’s a huge difference.

It’s by far, the most effective treatment I’ve done to my skin.

It was so easy and low risk.

And I’m so happy that I tried this before trying any lasers.

Moving Onwards

I CAN’T WAIT to go in for my next treatment!!

OMG I’m seriously so excited to see the difference.

I was told that sometimes people enhance their CIT treatments with Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) or Concentrated Growth Factor or Stem Cells (CGF), which give faster and better end results… but I’m a bit scared to try it.

And to give you an idea of pricing at Iconic Medispa, HydraFacials are about $175 (face only) and one treatment of CIT is $450.

(I had a little snoop around to compare prices, and these prices are on the slightly lower end of the spectrum when compared to other clinics in Perth. And to throw a bit of gossip in here, apparently these guys have a newer and more advanced CIT machine than other clinics.)

OK that’s all from me. I might post up a few more photos after my future treatments.

I thought I would stretch my visual styling muscle a bit and go with a fancy/moody photo today.

I recently received a Myer gift voucher (just from their rewards card) so I went to buy myself some foundation.

I’ve been struggling with my Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation lately – I’ve loved and used it for years. But ever since I started to use self-tanning creams, the foundation doesn’t match my skin colour and I’ve had to mix it with other foundations to get the right shade and right coverage.

In the last month or so, {{{ I cracked }}} , OMG I WAS SO SICK of mixing foundation at 7:30am in the morning.

Many years ago, I used to use Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation SPF15 (AUD$72). I even remember my shade colour (Natural 4) so I was just going to get a bottle of that and ask the makeup girl to match my skin colour.

The coverage was excellent, the texture was great for my combination skin and the finish was very natural looking. It was exactly what I wanted.

Bobbi Brown says is has “moisture-reviving marine extract and collagen-enhancing ferment”. Whatever the hell that was, it covered up my dry patches wonderfully, covered my blemishes, evened out my skin tone, gave my skin a moisturised and radiant boost and made my face feel all supple, dewy and glowy ALL DAY.

I’ve been wearing it for a week now, and it’s possibly one of the best foundations I’ve used.

Although… when the makeup girl told me how much it cost, I almost fell off my chair. AUD$90. Aaaakk!

I told her I had to think about it, and I took a walk around the shopping centre, looking at myself in mirrors in different lighting, poking and prodding my cheeks, and making weird animated expressions to see how the foundation feels on my face. (What, don’t YOU do that too?)

Yep, in the end I went back with my voucher and bought the foundation – and I’m super happy I did it!